Update Our 2022 mini-Reunion in Cleveland will NOT take place in May, but in September-October of 2022. The Yale Alumni Association (YAA) is unable to provide our necessary mini-Reunion support in May because of the very large number of regular Class Reunions being held at that time. We are promised full YAA mini-Reunion support for the early Fall of 2022. – Bob Morgan
By Scott Sullivan
Great news for starters. Our class council has approved a sixth mini-reunion, to be held in Cleveland the third week of May 2022. You will already have received circulars to that effect. Please plan to come and reply early to the announcement. Pudge Henkel (quarterback, top Cleveland lawyer, and Gary Hart’s ill-starred campaign manager) will organize and host the event, ably assisted by Ben Eppes (distinguished dermatologist and Whiffenpoof). Cleveland—the city of my birth—abounds with touristic treasures, including America’s second largest cultural center, a complex, incidentally, which owes its existence to Pudge’s legal battle against a plan to replace it with parking lots. Like our wonderful sessions in Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, Boston, and Minneapolis, Cleveland promises to be an utter gas. Do plan to come.
Another class-wide item of note: Bob Morgan has added to the 1958 website a collection of Yale music—the Whiffs, naturally, but also the Duke’s Men, Yale Glee Club, Eli’s Chosen Six, and many, many more. Tune in to yale1958.org for an orgy of nostalgia.
Our bi-coastal Zoom sessions continue to thrive and will surely continue beyond the pandemic. The conversations range over every imaginable subject and frequently lead to lengthy and learned email debates in the following weeks.
We held the recent class council on Zoom, to set up the Cleveland event and to hear a proposal from Joel Schiavone, who suggests that the class donate its accumulated funds to Yale for the creation of a microgrid. A microgrid is an electricity-saving and environmentally friendly device which Joel believes could save the university millions of dollars long-term. You will be hearing more about this as time goes on.
Mike Schoettle writes to report that his book, Career Change Guide, the fruit of his 40 years as a headhunter, has been published and is available through Amazon.
Dr. Fred Cantor informs us he is still working part-time at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, still playing tennis, and looking forward to some post-pandemic travel.
Dr. Ev Fleischer informs us that he has never attended a class reunion but goes to those of his senior society regularly.
Roger Healey, a plantation owner in Virginia, has sent a long, angry note, decrying affirmative action at Yale and announcing that he will no longer donate to the Alumni Fund. (Full text on the class webpage.)
The rest of this report is less happy.
Bob Rifkind lost his wife Arlene on April 2. She was professor of pharmacology at Cornell Medical School and a world-renowned research scientist. The couple were married for 59 years.
Dave Adnopoz’s daughter Zoe wrote recently that her father—my roommate along with Peter Hunt—has been moved to the dementia wing of his assisted-living facility in Maine. He has difficulty speaking but would love to hear from old friends. Call (207) 563-4200 and ask for Head Nurse Shari, who will arrange a conversation.
The Grim Reaper continues to mow us down. We have lost eight more classmates. Unfortunately, because of space limitations, their obituaries here will be extremely brief. Fuller accounts are posted on the class website.
Two of our losses date back over a year. Roger Bailey, of Palm Coast, Florida, died April 24, 2020. We have no information on him other than address. Can anyone supply some background? Richard Feder of Greenwich, Connecticut, who, with his wife, ran a consulting company called the Marketing Group, died July 17 last year.
Charles Sandorf, a lifelong official of AT&T, died in Syracuse, New York, on March 6. In retirement, Charles was an ardent athlete: master’s level track, tennis, lawn bowling, and golf.
Celebrated organist Allen Rosenberg died in Stuart, Florida, on March 13. Trained at Juilliard, he spent 40 years playing every great organ in the world. His major composition, The Waldron Requiem, premiered in 2005.
William Jessup (Bill) Hand died of Parkinson’s in Southeast Harbor, Maine, on April 15. A lifelong Wall Streeter, he started at Chemical Bank and worked for 20 years at Smith Barney. He loved his home in Bronxville and his summer place on Mount Desert.
Pete Hufstader, who spent most of his active life teaching English at the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, died April 19 at his home in Avon, Connecticut. In 1995, he began a second career as research director for Common Cause of Rhode Island.
Frank Wagner, a chemist who held 15 US and many foreign patents, died February 17 in Pennington, New Jersey. Frank and his wife worked at American Cyanamid in Stamford, Connecticut. He was an enthusiastic volunteer fireman.
Reg Leeby died May 10. He was an accountant who lived most of his life in Utah, but had recently retired to his home state of Florida.
Nota bene: Two classmates have complained about these notes’ disappointment in the last US president and their reasoned support for the incumbent. As a principled gentleman, your correspondent regrets causing any classmate concern of any kind and apologizes for so doing. As a citizen and thinking human being, however, he regards these objections as unmitigated spinach.